Unearthing the Truth About Rowan’s Tunnels
By Dominic Trombino
GLASSBORO – Students at Rowan University have heard rumblings about secret underground tunnels for years.
Danielle Petulla, a senior at Rowan, heard tunnels were once used as a stop on the Underground Railroad for African-Americans fleeing slavery.
Amanda Kaley, a senior at Rowan, heard of a tunnel connecting the Hollybush Mansion to parts of the campus that was used during the 1967 summit between President Lyndon Johnson and Russian Premier Alexei Kosygin to safely move between locations.
Thomas Gallia, who was a student at then Glassboro State College in the 1960’s, said he remembers a rumor that a tunnel started at Bunce Hall, continued to the greenhouse and finished at what were then the all-female dorms, Oak and Laurel.
So what is the truth behind the murky rumors of the underground passage?
There has never been any evidence that the area where Rowan now stands was used as a stop on the Underground Railroad, said Gallia, who is now the Vice President for University Relations as well as the President’s Chief of Staff for Rowan University.
The Hollybush tunnel also seems to be nothing more than a myth. Gallia explained that there is a root cellar that is attached to the building, constructed from a different material than the rest of the building, and that’s what most likely led to the rumor of a second tunnel.
However, there is in fact a tunnel that leads from Bunce Hall to the greenhouse next door.
“Bob Collard and I once walked through the tunnel,” Gallia said. He explained that he and Collard, a friend from school, were able to find their way into the tunnel when they were students.
While the tunnel is more than just a myth, his college-aged self was disappointed to learn that the end point of the tunnel stopped short, not leading them to their destination of the female dorms.
MaryAnn Curtis Gonzales, curator of the Frank H. Stewart Room at Rowan University, said the tunnel was first used as a way for students to go from Bunce Hall (which was at the time called College Hall) to the head house for class in the 1920’s and 30’s, when the college was in its infancy.
Since then, the tunnel has been used for maintenance purposes.
“The greenhouse used to be heated by steam, and the steam would be sent through pipes in the tunnel from Bunce to the greenhouse,” said Andrew McCalley, project manager for the Department of Facilities, Planning and Construction at Rowan University.
Once the greenhouse was renovated however, steam was no longer necessary to heat the building. Since then, the tunnel has gone mostly unused, with just some electrical and other lines running through it.
Today, the tunnel is damp, dark and not somewhere a visitor would want to stay for very long. The ceiling is covered with cobwebs, and the floor has about an inch of stagnant water, clearly indicating that it hasn’t been visited in quite some time.
Contrary to students’ beliefs, Rowan does not have an elaborate maze of underground passageways that would protect its students from the harsh rain of Southern New Jersey. Instead it just has one short tunnel, only about 50 feet long and hardly used these days, that has helped feed the urban legends on campus for years.
